Garnet stood alone.

The spires of Homeworld rose around her like some magnificent forest of stagnant beauty. The base of the building she lay at was cracked and crumbling, its opalescent surface gleaming brilliantly in the dying sun that set on the distant horizon.

The tall, imposing figure approached, a deadly smile fixed on her massive, supposedly elegant features. It was true. She really was the peak of Gemkind. Her thundering footsteps sent the ems that lined the battlefield either fleeing-cowards, she supposed-or dropping to their knees, saluting in an attempt to show their supposedly undying loyalty to a horribly corrupt and prejudice government.

"I'm not afraid of you."

Truer words had never been spoken. Her unmasked eyes stared levelly back at the Diamond, showing nothing but calm resolution, despite her injuries that almost made her unable to walk. Really, damn this human body. Why had they decided to exactly replicate something so...fragile?

"You think I believe that?"

There it was. Nothing but untrusting malice. Pampered royalty. Nothing more, nothing less. Her unbelievable age showed in the tiredness of her eyes, yet she spoke with such power to make others believe that she was so young, so bold, as to challenge a warrior proven to be worthy of standing beside the legendary Rose Quartz. Her strength was unquestioned-her resolve untested, for no one wished to dare her. Yet still-here she was. Facing defeat at the hands of someone bigger, better, more experienced than her.

But had Yellow Diamond spent a thousand years in the middle of a bloody war? Were her first memories shaped by loss, pain, and rage? Was she always quelling disputes that she hid behind behind a thick facade of kindness and strength?

No. She was nothing. Yet she was still stronger. She had lured the so-called fearless leader of the Crystal Gems into the most deadly trap ever devised.

Garnet stepped towards the warp pad, waving over her shoulder at her team as she went. "I'll be back soon. Hold down the fort." Pearl looked up in mild concern. "Garnet, are you sure you can handle this by yourself? This...thing, whatever it is, has eluded our capture for weeks! Who knows how strong it may be?"

She had merely shrugged off the thinly veiled worry. "I'll be fine."

Garnet drew in a painful breath and lunged at the Diamond once more, her silence indicative of her stony resolve to get this over with. Her gauntlet collided with the massive gem's face, causing th monarch to stumble slightly. The Crystal Gem landed heavily, backing up warily, painfully aware of how damn tiny she was in comparison to the monolithic Gem.

"Blue was right. You are weak." The Diamond lifted Garnet by the front of the shirt, slamming her against a building once more. She couldn't help but groan as she dropped to the ground, causing that cruel laughter to ring out through the city once more.

"Just 'cause you never gave me a chance..." Garnet struggled to her feet, lunging forward for what she desperately hoped would be the last time. "...Doesn't mean I'm weak!" She collided with Yellow Diamond full-force, bowling her flat onto her back-after falling straight through a wall. Garnet stood once more, a desperate smile on her face as she rose her cracked gauntlets once more. The ground shook as the massive gem pushed herself up once again, her eyes wide with pure, seething hatred. It was even worse than seeing Rose completely enraged-a rare feat, accomplished twice after the war. Let's just say that there were still craters.

"You are weak and a fool! A disgrace to your kind! A Ruby alone serves a purpose to serve, while your Sapphire part could have been a great diplomat! Gems do not change, and you are no exception!" Nostrils flaring, the huge Gem kept striding forward. "You truly believed those lies you were force-fed? Did those futures of yours not see the great peril that lies ahead? Homeworld is your salvation!" She produced a massive scythe from the Gem on her chest, holding it menacingly above your head. "Or, at least...It was."

The mission had started out simple enough. Go in. Bubble the gem. Get out. But even she hadn't bothered sifting the millions of potential futures-truly a wild card which would become reality. What she could never imagine, though, was that the abnormally long warp trip to the temple was really taking her much, much farther away. When she landed, her eyes had widened in astonishment-though she had never been there herself, Ruby and Sapphire had.

Garnet reached up, grabbing the cold blade of the scythe and pulling down hard. That's it-gem on the flat side, avoid the sharp edges, watch where it landed, you'll be just fine.

Turns out her reassuring internal monologues weren't as logical as the cold, hard, fact that hit her like a truck. Similar to how Yellow Diamond had just hit her. She had landed on a roof, rolling multiple times and coming close to the edge. She didn't dare look down at the dizzying drop, instead focusing on the thundering footsteps as that damned Diamond approached once more. Struggling to her feet, Garnet wiped blood from the corner of her mouth with her now bare hands. She was having a hard enough time retaining a physical form-summoning her gauntlets was hopeless.

That's when the shouting started from below. The unmistakable poof of physical forms dissipating, the ring of weapons upon a shield, the crack of a whip, the swing of a spear, flying metal, rushing water-

Garnet started smiling.

Pearl sliced mercilessly through Homeworld Gems. She could barely make out Garnet's silhouette upon a nearby building-and another menacing figure that struck fear through her very being.

"Yellow Diamond! Garnet's fighting Yellow Diamond!"

Uncharacteristically panicked, Pearl's shriek rang through the area nonetheless, as did the sound of a second spear materializing. The Crystal Gems immediately went all-out. Metal flew through the air as fast as Peridot could manage, spearing countless Gems, side-by-side with Lapis's ice materialized from the atmosphere. Steven materialized and threw shield after shield, occasionally flinching and shouting, "Sorry!'. Amethyst was yelling, shape-shifting, slamming Gems into each other and used her whip similar to a boa constrictor. Pearl treated it like the fragile dance it was-and she called the terms, dodging enemy fire and cutting through the enemy Gems as easily as if they were made of butter.

Garnet was aware of all of this, yet her eyes remained focused on the steadily approaching Diamond, whose scythe's bitter light cut through the neutral. weak light that came from the dying sun that shone bleakly in the sky. She was really beginning to hate the color yellow.

"You are truly shameless."

The blunt side of the scythe hit Garnet's side full-force. She groaned, stumbling to her feet once more, legs shaking badly. This was gonna be permanent damage if she didn't end it soon. Before she could even attempt to strike, however, Yellow Diamond's hand closed tightly around her neck, lifting her to the sky for the world to see.

"You're...one to...talk...!" Backtalk, even facing her own death. A dark smile flitted across her bruised features, her teeth swiftly grinding together in pain, though the look never truly left her eyes, even at the enraged glare of the empress before her.

"You are a creature who exists for battle. Why do you not fight me? I believed that fusions were supposed to be stronger than...this." Her hand tightened further. Garnet coughed weakly. "Yeah, well...it's pretty difficult...to stay fused...when you're being-being choked..."

Yellow Diamond laughed cruelly once more-Garnet could not comprehend what was funny about the situation. "You, the horrible combination of a simple Ruby7 and a Sapphire-Royalty-who dared to disgrace themselves in the presence of the great Blue Diamond! You stained that arena with your shameless actions!"

"Change...is blasphemy...now?"

Yellow Diamond let go.

Garnet could've landed on her feet, if she pushed herself. She fell hundreds of feet, the only thoughts passing through her head the desperate whirlwind of emotions from Ruby and Sapphire, blinding her and nearly splitting her head open-it was all she could do to keep their fear hidden. When she hit the ground, the impact drove the breath out of her lungs, her ears ringing, blood rushing through her false veins, a shallow gasp escaping her form as she lay there, her edges flicking faintly, her eyes closed as tightly as they could be.

She dimly felt the ground shake as a massive figure landed near her. Thundering footsteps, hushed gasps, her sense slowly returning. Her eyes remained closed. Maybe Yellow Diamond wouldn't kill her. She could retreat to her Gems. Recuperate. Survive...

The Gems surrounded her, the massive Diamond at their head, a disinterested expression on her face. "Pity. We were hoping for Rose Quartz, not one of her pets." Garnet's eyes narrowed. The Warp Pad wasn't working-someone must have disabled it the second she had arrived.

Taking her silence as fear-not untrue, but she was analyzing the situation more than anything else-Yellow Diamond continued. "Well, it seems you're leader now? You will have to do. Cut off the head and the body dies as well, as you say on Earth. Do you not?"

No response. It was getting fun to mess with a legendarily terrifying figure, commonly referred to as a genocidal maniac hidden behind a constant layer of bored indifference and stiff formalities.

"Garnet!"

The desperate scream of her name brought Garnet back from her thoughts. Her eyes jerked open just in time to stop a massive scythe from slicing through her head. The ugly grating sound coming from her comparatively soft gems against the surface of the weapon terrified her, though she desperately hoped she was hiding it. After a few seconds of struggling, she managed to throw the gigantic Gem off of her, struggling to get to her feet as anger flooded every fiber of her being, electricity beginning to crackle around her clenched fists as her allies stared on in fear, too afraid to approach the angry Diamond-yet something about seeing Garnet so damn angry that she started losing control of her powers completely petrified them.

"Pearl, take the others and go." Her voice was rough, yet held unbelievable command that any remotely sane person would obey. Or, at least, a person who wasn't incredibly dedicated to the Gem who spoke. The Crystal Gems...were either completely insane, or were just insanely protective of their family. "No, Garnet."

"Go!"

Of course, Yellow Diamond lunged at that exact moment, slamming Garnet into the ground with even more force than before, long before the others had a chance to move, much less do something but cry out her name in fear. Even Lapis seemed scared for her...respected colleague.

"What a party, they've come out in full force-" Yellow Diamond finally seemed to notice the gleaming pink shield that rested on Steven's arm. The Gems immediately closed ranks around him, Garnet moving fast than shee thought possible to protect him. All of them, really-she wasn't going to let the bitch hurt her family. With great effort she managed to summon her gauntlets once more. Yellow Diamond stared in wry amusement. "You really think that such a meager force of seven defective runts can stop me?"

In contrast to Lapis's wry amusement, Peridot seemed to take extreme offense at this. "Hey! Every Peridot is like this, you cl-clod!" Her loud, high-pitched voice was of no interest to Yellow Diamond, who was only paying attention to Steven. "Rose Quartz. Until the day our Rubies wrote home, we believed that you had died when the ship we sent for you crashed." Steven was the only one who looked legitimately terrified-too scared to even respond, even though it was very clear he tried.

"Go."

Garnet's voice was even more commanding than before, if possible. Electricity continued to crackle around her gauntlets. Seeing that she was tensing up, preparing to strike, Pearl gently brushed her hand against Garnet's forearm warningly, as if to tell her that even she was no match for Yellow Diamond-or the combined strength of the Crystal Gems, fro that matter. She would lose this fight, and they needed to retreat. Badly.

Garnet didn't attack. She only defensively raised her gauntlets.

Yellow Diamond took a step forward. "There is no hope for any of you. I hope you realize this." Pearl seemed to take this as a personal offense, her two spears at the ready and a death-glare that was rather unlike her painting her features with determined bravery.

"I've survived one war. I can survive another." Lapis nodded in agreement with Pearl, water rising behind her in a massive wave that shouldn't have been possible on such a barren wasteland of a planet. Amethyst's whip cracked once more, metal rose, and electricity crackled-Garnet would have to stay the hell away from Lapis in a fight like this-and the Diamond raised an eyebrow. "it's so cute, how you think you can slow me down."

She lunged, scythe ready to tear through the Gems. They all jumped at the last second, Peridot clinging desperately to Amethyst. With the exception of Steven, none of them even bothered landing before attacking. Within moments, they had Yellow Diamond backing up, using her scythe as if it were a shield. Diamond wasn't very conductible, so Garnet would have to just keep punching until they won-maybe a bit after, she was seriously pissed.

"ENOUGH!"

Weirdly, that was definitely enough to stop the Crystal Gems from attacking. Their weapons at the ready, they stared at the massive Gem before them, who was now bruised, and cut rather badly in multiple places. In all honesty, she deserved worse. Garnet would never tell anyone this, but she personally thought that she deserved to die for the massive genocides she had committed during the war-to humans and Gems, indiscriminately treating them like bugs beneath her feet.

"I let you go. Rose Quartz-" She gestured at Steven, who immediately raised his shield, "-And the fusion are mine. You want survival, don't you?" Pearl scoffed angrily, "And throw our friends under the bus? I think not!" Garnet couldn't have said it better-had she not been a bargaining chip in this game. Game...shit.

Her voice lowered, she leaned over to speak to Pearl. "She's toying with us. We need to damage her gem."

Pearl seemed extremely horrified at this. "No one should have to go through that! There are no healers on Homeworld, you know this!" Garnet nodded grimly. "She's killed millions that we know of. A cracked gem is a fitting punishment, even though it won't put her through anywhere near the pain she's caused."

"...Diamonds are incredibly hard, how are we supposed to damage her?"

"Diamonds are brittle."

The rushed conversation stopped, and they grinned weakly at each other, before turning to face the Diamond.

"I take it you're done exchanging farewells?" Yellow Diamond strode forth, her expression somewhat calmer than before. Garnet and Pearl stepped closer together, both analyzing the gem before them. Roughly eighteen feet tall, scythe-wielding, looking like she was about to commit even more crimes. The two Crystal Gems kept edging closer to each other. "Give up, and I might let you live. All it would take is one blow, and all of you would be shattered. You're out of options."

Garnet looked up, confidence clear on her face. "Not quite."

A brief flash of light-and Yellow Diamond knocked back by a powerful force that slammed into her chest. "What the he-"

"Language!"

Sardonyx-still retaining at least half of the damage inflicted on Garnet, unfortunately-stood at around the same height as Yellow Diamond, maybe a little taller. Her four eyes were narrowed in a look somewhere between anger and calculation, her four hands tight around the hammer. Every Gem within sight stared, somewhere between shock and awe at the fusion.

"Another cheap trick!" Sardonyx waited until Yellow Diamond was on her feet and ready to attack once more before jumping, spinning to build up force, and with a shout that was very clearly caused by Garnet, slammed the hammer into Yellow Diamond's chest with enough force that would crush lesser gems into a fine powder. The hammer itself was cracked, crumbling, and dissipated very quickly as Sardonyx took a few steps back, eyes wide with disbelief that Yellow Diamond's physical form still hadn't dissipated.

But when she staggered to her feet, the damage was clear. It had been enough force to badly crack the gleaming yellow Gem, and render the Diamond weak-and, most likely, extremely easy to defeat. Despite the fact that her scythe was still in hand, she could be disarmed. It wouldn't be too hard...right?

Sardonyx could hear Steven's stifled, wordless exclamation of fear, Amethyst's "Woah, dude!", Lapis's sudden intake of breath, and Peridot's terrified squeak.

"...Sardonyx?" Steven's worried voice got her full attention. The four separate personalities inside of her were immediately at war for response-and, surprisingly, an extremely dormant one won over the dominant. "We didn't intend to kill."

That didn't convince any of them. Especially since it seemed less like Sardonyx and more like Sapphire taking complete control of the situation. The massive fusion turned her eyes towards the tyrant before her once more as she rose, dust and blood clinging to her shoulders like a shroud, scythe clenched tightly in hand.

It happened fast. Looking back on it, there had been no clear signs as to what would happen next.

Before Sardonyx could summon her hammer, the scythe swung. Two of her four hands shielded Pearl's Gem as the massive, curved blade hit it's target. It only took a few seconds for Peridot to realize what had just happened. Sharp metal debris flew forward, each one hitting Yellow Diamond in the desired spot, directly surrounding her gem. Yellow Diamond fell to her knees and Sardonyx poofed, eyes wide in disbelief, with an expression that was so...Pearl.

As soon as the smoke and dust cleared, the Crystal Gems rushed over to their allies. Pearl was already at Garnet's side, helping the taller Gem up from where she lay on the ground, eyes wide in fear that had nothing to do with that fact they they were far, far behind enemy lines.

"Garnet!" Steven was the first to reach her, after Pearl. Broad cuts slashed the backs of her hands nearly in two. Any normal person would have passed out from blood loss at this point-but she was a Gem. Blood didn't change anything about her.

They were both standing at this point, Garnet leaning heavily on Pearl's shoulder, expression as blank as she could muster. That expression immediately vanished when Yellow Diamond's voice boomed out through the massive city once more.

"You foolish pawn, pretending you can live without a war to fight."

"Shut up..." Her voice was quiet, extremely annoyed, and even more pained than that. In response to her ally's anger, Peridot made a massive pushing motion that drove the long metal spears in completely. With a cry of pain and a look of complete shock, Yellow Diamond disappeared into a flash of yellow-white smoke. Lapis extended a long arm of water to lift the dangerous Gem, bringing it back and letting Peridot bubble the former tyrant, as the others went to the now-functioning warp pad.

It was a completely silent trip home. No one felt like celebrating. No one could get that nagging doubt, that fear, that sense that something was terribly wrong out of their heads. When they arrived everything seemed far too normal. The kitchen stood silent, the beginnings of an incomplete sandwich laying on the counter, a messy pile of cards on the table, Steven's bed as messy as usual, Peridot's tablet laying on the kitchen counter, the temple door tall and austere as always.

Garnet's knees abruptly hit the warp pad, unable to continue leaning on Pearl. She could barely hear her friends calling out her name.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, she looked down at her shaking hands. Countless hairline cracks, widening by the second practically covered the red gems that lay in her palms. A hushed gasp from Pearl, Steven freezing up, unable to do anything, despite the fact that he stood directly before Garnet. She wrapped her arms tightly around the small boy as the others could do nothing but look on, eyes wide in shock as she said something into his ear. Loud enough that he could hear her, but quiet enough that no one else could.

When she pulled away, her expression was stoic as always. It remained so for a moment-before a small, sad smile replaced it. With a poof of red-and-purple tinted smoke, she was gone. No Ruby, no Sapphire, no small round Gems lying on the cold floor. The silence spoke louder than anything else ever would as mere seconds felt like an eternity. The ocean crashed against the beach as warm, spring sunlight streamed in through the windows.

Red and blue gem shards mingled indiscriminately on the ground, reflecting the fragmented light onto the stunned, uncomprehending faces crowded onto the tiny warp pad.

I'm back and writing with more feels than ever. *Cracks knuckles menacingly*

Love, like, meh, dislike, hate, want to burn, want to burn because of poorly executed feels? Please tell me! I think my writing's improved, and I definitely have Legend of the Galactic Heroes(you must read it now) to thank for that.